In 2016, the oldest member of the family business The Ong Group was concerned about the ailing firm that he and his siblings were running. The business had been started in 1957 in Hong Kong by their father. After the death of the father and one of the siblings, the remaining family members needed a plan for the future of the business. Should all of the remaining siblings and their children be allowed to become directors in the family firm? How could they create a workable governance structure that would help the family make the right decisions? How would they put the business back on track?

In February 2013, the senior marketing manager of Aquasi India (Private) Limited (Aquasi) met with the company’s chief executive officer to consider the challenges faced by Aquasi that had arisen due to globalization after March 1997. India’s competitive environment had completely changed; new technology had swept into the country and workers did not possess the essential skill sets to use the new machinery. Given sharp declines in quality and production output, Aquasi’s sales suffered significantly. The number of competitors increased and began to eat into the company’s market share. In the midst of these problems, Aquasi planned to develop and grow a web-based portal to manage the business in hopes that it would enable the company to move forward and survive in the difficult times ahead. However, the question remained as to how to implement this new online strategy; Aquasi’s marketing and information technology teams were novices with respect to digital media, and would face several challenges.

The case is based on a real $25 million project at a major U.S.-based computer manufacturer. For confidentiality reasons the company has been disguised as A&D High Tech. The Web-based online ordering system project is required by sales and marketing for the fall holiday season. If the project misses this window, the firm will lose substantial market share to competitors. Part (B) takes place three months into the original project plan. The project manager has just been fired and the management challenge is to find out what is wrong with the project and recommend fixes. In addition, the scope of the project has changed: the VP of marketing has an additional promotional bundle requirement. A&D High Tech (A) examines how to create and analyze a project plan in Microsoft Project. In order to make the case manageable for students we reduced the size of the project, and corresponding number of resources, to approximately $1 million, but retained all of the features of the original project. Part (B) gives actual work done on each task three months into the project. Students must answer the management questions: Can the project be fixed and completed in time for the holiday season? Can the additional requirements be incorporated, and if so, what is the best approach? In order to answer these questions, earned value data can be extracted from Microsoft Project and analyzed. These data provide important insights into the root cause of problems with the project. The next step is to reduce the scope of the project and reassign resources. However, one must be aware that indiscriminately adding people can slow a project down, not speed it up. Finally, the additional promotional bundle requirement from the VP of marketing provides an important outsourcing management discussion. The case can also be taught using other project management software tools, such as Primavera.

The case is based on a real $25 million project at a major U.S.-based computer manufacturer. For confidentiality reasons the company has been disguised as A&D High Tech. The Web-based online ordering system project is required by sales and marketing for the fall holiday season. If the project misses this window, the firm will lose substantial market share to competitors. The A&D High Tech case examines how to create and analyze a project plan in Microsoft Project. Specifically, data is given to build the project plan step-by-step and then analyze the plan using the Microsoft project management tool. In order to make the case manageable for students we reduced the size of the project, and corresponding number of resources, to approximately $1 million, but retained all of the features of the original project. The project plan that students construct from the data given in the case is fraught with risks, and students must apply risk management techniques to diagnose the plan. Ultimately, students must answer the management question: Will the project be completed for the holiday shopping season? This case is the first in a series; the second is the case entitled “A&D High Tech (B): Managing Scope Change.” The case can also be taught using other project management software tools, such as Primavera.

Case Name : Managing the Competition: Category Captaincy on the Frozen Food Aisle

Authors : Madhu Viswanathan, Neil Bendle

Source : Ivey Publishing

Case ID : W15113

Discipline : Marketing

Case Length : 12 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

Description for case is given below :

An executive at Freezer Foods, a manufacturer of ready-to-eat frozen meals, has just been told by a major customer, a retail supermarket chain, that it wants one of its two suppliers of frozen food to take over as category captain. A category captain is a third party, usually a manufacturer, who manages a category of goods for a retailer. The executive needs to think through the objectives of category captaincy from the retailer’s perspective and develop an attractive bid to win the category captaincy. In doing so, the executive develops an opinion on the benefits and challenges associated with category captaincy from the point of view of four parties: the retailer, the winning category captain, the manufacturer whose rival becomes the category captain, and consumers.

In late 1994, Mr. Her, president of Joong-Ang Development Co., was concerned with the level of service quality at Yongin Farmland, the company’s theme park located just south of Seoul, South Korea. Despite the service-quality program he initiated when he assumed his present position 14 months ago, the park’s service quality seemed to be less than that of its competitors. He wondered if he had made the right moves, how Farmland could achieve international service quality standards, whether it would be worth doing, and if it would really provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Intended for use in a service-quality module of a service management course.

This case has been written to teach concepts in offshore outsourcing to students in business management courses as well as courses in strategy and information systems. The primary goal of this case study is to examine the process of establishing the offshore outsourcing of projects.